Henley leads by 2 at Sony Open

Honolulu, HI (Sports Network) - Russell Henley fired his second straight 7-
under 63 on Friday to grab a 2-stroke lead after two rounds of the Sony Open
in Hawaii.

Henley finished 36 holes at 14-under-par 126. His total of 126 established a
new 36-hole tournament scoring record. The old mark of 128 was set by Davis
Love III in 1994 at Waialae Country Club and matched three times since.

First-round leader Scott Langley, who was paired with Henley for the first two
days, carded a 4-under 66. He dipped into a share of second at minus-12. Scott
Piercy birdied his final hole to card a 64 and match Langley in second place.

Matt Kuchar, who tied for fifth at this event in 2011, eagled the final hole
for a 7-under 63. He moved into fourth place by himself at 11-under 129.

Charles Howell III, a two-time runner-up at this event, also shot 64 and he
shares fifth at 10-under-par 130 with Chris Kirk (62) and Tim Clark (66).

Henley, a three-time winner on the Web.com Tour, birdied the 10th to start his
round. After five pars in a row, he joined Langley in the lead with a 3-foot
birdie putt on No. 16.

At the par-5 18th, Henley 2-putted for birdie and Langley got up and down for
birdie as they remained tied atop the leaderboard. Henley moved in front with
a 8-foot birdie effort at the second.

Henley birdied the fifth from 16 feet out and was suddenly three clear of the
field as Langley bogeyed the same hole. The 23-year-old Henley made it two in
a row as he birdied the sixth.

After a pair of pars, Henley capped his round with a 9-foot birdie putt on the
par-5 ninth.

"I got off to a good start, hit a good drive on the first hole, and it felt
good to hit a good one and kind of relaxed me a little bit. I hit a little 50-
yard wedge up there and made like a pretty big curling putt for birdie,"
Henley explained. "Just kind of nice to start out with a solid hole like that.
I just kind of fed off it the whole day from there.

"I didn't make every putt that was close, but I was hitting great putts,
hitting them like I want to hit them, and some were falling. So I'm happy
about it."

Langley, who got his card through Q School, ran home a 26-foot birdie putt on
No. 10, but gave that shot right back as he bogeyed the 11th after finding a
bunker with his tee shot to the par-3.

He drained a 17-footer for birdie at 13 and got up and down for birdie on the
18th to turn at 10-under.

The 23-year-old Langley failed to save par from a bunker on the fifth to fall
three back. After Henley pushed his cushion to four strokes, Langley birdied
the seventh and eighth to cut the deficit in half.

Langley, like Henley, birdied the ninth to cap his round.

"It's never easy to back up a really good round, so I kind of got off to a
little slower start, but it was certainly nice to finish the way I did and
kind of get back in it with Russell," Langley said. "He played so well, and
he's played so well the last two days, and just trying to keep pace as much as
I can. To finish that way was really good."

Piercy also started on the 10th and birdied two of his first three holes to
move to 8-under. He converted a 14-footer for eagle at the par-5 18th to move
within four.

On the front side, Piercy birdied the third from four feet out. At the ninth,
his eagle chip stopped inches shy of the hole and he tapped in for birdie and
a share of second place.

NOTES: Last week's winner, Dustin Johnson, withdrew after nine holes with flu-
like symptoms ... Champions Tour regulars Russ Cochran (minus-4) and Fred
Funk were both in the field, but Funk missed the cut by one stroke ... Johnson
Wagner, last year's winner, also missed the cut by one shot as the cut fell at
2-under-par 138 ... Also missing the cut were Zach Johnson, Robert Allenby,
Mike Weir, K.J. Choi, Stewart Cink and Love.